Wrestling

Bears Set to Compete at Easterns

Mar 02, 2007

March 2, 2007

Beginning Friday, 10 wrestlers will represent the Brown wrestling team at the EIWA Tournament, held this year at East Stroudsburg (PA) University. Six Bears were seeded in their draw, led by junior tri-captain Levon Mock (Bangor, MI), who was seeded fifth at 285 pounds. Also seeded were juniors Mark Savino (Princeton, NJ) and Jeff Schell (Zion Grove, PA), sophomore Tom Fazio (Ringwood, NJ), freshman Greg Einfrank (Jefferson Valley, NY), and senior tri-captain Shawn Kitchner (Stratford, WI), who will be wrestling for the first time since Jan. 7 after sitting with an injury.

125 pounds - Greg Einfrank, Fr., 12-15 overall, 5-5 EIWA
Einfrank, seeded eighth in the draw at 125, drew a first-round bye. However, he'll face the winner of top seed Troy Nickerson of Cornell, who is ranked second in the country, and Ryan Jablonski of Rutgers. Against the other 13 wrestlers in the draw, Einfrank holds a 5-4 record.

133 pounds - Jeff Schell, Jr., 17-11 overall, 7-4 EIWA
In his first season at 133 pounds after two at 125, Schell took a bit to warm up to his new weight. He finished the season strong, going 8-1 in his final nine matches, including a 2-0 win over sixth-seed Matt DeLorenzo of Columbia, who he'd lost to, 4-3, earlier in the season. If eighth-seed Schell wins his first-round match with East Stroudsburg's John Stout, he'll square off with top seed Matt Valenti of Penn, who is ranked #1 in the country at 133 pounds. Schell has a 4-5 record against the other 12 wrestlers in his draw.

141 pounds - Mark Savino, Jr., 14-12 overall, 6-5 EIWA
Savino is the sixth seed at 141, the second-highest Brown seed. He defeated his first-round opponent, Kyle Milanese of Rutgers, 9-2 earlier in the season. In three matches against #16 Max Meltzer of Harvard, Brad Canturbury of Navy, and Matt Kyler of Army, the tournament's first, third, and fourth seeds, respectively, Savino is 0-3, but by a combined total of four points. He has a possible shot at revenge against Canturbury in the second round. Savino has a 5-5 record against the other 13 wrestlers in the draw.

149 pounds - Bryan Tracy, Fr., 5-10 overall, 2-4 EIWA
Tracy (Williamstown, NJ) worked his way into the Brown lineup late in the season at 149. He has not faced his first-round opponent, fifth-seed Richard Rappo of Penn. He is 2-3 in matches against the other 13 wrestlers in his draw.

157 pounds - Tom Fazio, So., 9-8 overall, 3-4 EIWA
After sitting for the tournaments during the fall semester, Fazio returned in January at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. He'll be the seventh seed at 157. He has not faced his first-round opponent, Jimmy Peppers of American. Fazio has a 2-3 record against the other 13 wrestlers competing at 157, including a 4-2 win over fifth-seed Christian Snook of Army and a close 2-0 loss to sixth-seed Devin Mesanko of Columbia.

165 pounds - Shawn Kitchner, Sr., 9-5 overall, 1-0 EIWA
The lone senior in Brown's lineup, Kitchner will be returning after sitting since Jan. 7 with an injury. A First Team All-Ivy performer last season, Kitchner won his lone match against an EIWA opponent, which also happened to be the match he was injured in. He'll face Justin Herbert of Franklin & Marshall, who defeated his teammate, Bran Crudden, 8-0 earlier in the year, in the first round. Kitchner enters the weekend with a career record of 42-25.

174 pounds - Bran Crudden, Fr., 5-12 overall, 2-6 EIWA (No record at 174)
Kitchner's replacement at 165 during the dual season, Bran Crudden (Columbia, CT), will wrestle up at 174 for the first time at Easterns. As a result, he has no record against other members of his draw, including first-round opponent Matthew Palmer of Columbia, the tournament's second seed and the 10th-ranked wrestler at 174 pounds. Crudden did have a record of 1-6 against wrestlers in this weekend's draw at 165.

184 pounds - Matt Gevelinger, So., 12-13 overall, 4-5 EIWA
The Bears' entry at 184 pounds, Gevelinger (Mineral Point, WI) lost to his first-round foe, fifth-seed Antonio Miranda of Navy, 20-9 at the Lone Star Duals. He has a 2-5 record against the other wrestlers at 184 this weekend, including three losses to nationally ranked opponents.

197 pounds - Larry Otsuka, Fr., 7-17 overall, 1-8 EIWA
Otsuka (Upper Saddle River, NJ) has been the Bears' starter at 197 for most of the year. He is 1-5 against the other wrestlers at 197, but has not faced his first-round opponent, seventh-seed Matthew Parsons of Navy.

285 pounds - Levon Mock, Jr., 17-10 overall, 6-3 EIWA
Brown's best hope to advance deep into the tournament may rest with Mock at 285 pounds. Mock led the Bears with seven pins and nine bonus-point wins this year, going 10-4 in the dual season. He'll also benefit from the absence of two former nationally ranked grapplers - Harvard's Bode Ogunwole, the defending champion, is out with an injury, and American's Adam LoPiccolo is no longer with the team. Mock is 5-3 against the other wrestlers in his draw, including a 3-3 mark against other seeded wrestlers. His first-round opponent will be Evan Murtaugh of American, who he has not faced this season.